Search


	Podcast:		4. Chemistry and Physics
	Episode:		Geosynchronous Orbit
	Category:		Science & Medicine
	Duration:		00:00:49
	Publish Date:		2011-07-13 18:45:30
	Description:		Transcript: A low-Earth orbit corresponds to a distance of about 200 kilometers above the Earth’s surface. This is a tiny fraction of the Earth’s diameter but sufficient to be above the entire atmosphere. At this height and at a speed of 7.8 kilometers per second, the orbital time is about 90 minutes. Low-Earth orbit, for example, is the orbit of the Hubble Space Telescope. At the cost of considerably more energy an orbit can be created whose period is 24 hours. In this situation something can hover above one point of the rotating Earth. This is called a geosynchronous orbit, and it is obviously a favored orbit for things such as telecommunications satellites.
	Total Play:		0